Barcelona disembarkation.

[JeanieC,Aston]

I am disembarking from Barcelona next month from MSC Meraviglia.

The docking time is 09:00 and my flight time is 12:30.

I should be OK if i am off the ship and in a taxi by 11:00,,,,,but i am hearing of disembarkation chaos concerning MSC.

 

Two questions for anyone who has got of the ship in Barcelona recently....

Do they have self-disembarkation where you carry your own luggage off with you?

If it doesn't dock until 09:00,what time do you have to be out of the cabin?

 

Thanks.

[Beamafar]

If your flight time is 12.30 then you need to be in the airport by 10.30 at the latest. You need to be off and in a taxi by 10am in that case.

 

You can certainly self-debark. Just let Guest Services know in advance.

 

You need to vacate your cabin at 7am.

[Keith1010]

I agree. I would arrive to the airport at least two hours prior to the flight.

 

Keith

[JeanieC,Aston]

Thanks Guys.

The latest check-in time for my flight is 11:50 and Gate closes at 12:00.

I have flown many times from Barcelona so know the procedure,the taxi from the port is only 20 mins.

So a taxi at 11:00 gives plenty of time.

I have never found 2 hours needed to get from check-in to gate.

 

I was reading another forum,the poster said she didn't get off the ship until 10:15,,and she was Black card.

The queues to get off wound up the stairways.It was pandemonium.

 

I was really wondering if any recent experiences shows an improvement.

Also if self-debarkation allows you off first as soon as customs are cleared,,,as it does with other lines?

 

If out of room by 07:00,,,do you think asking the steward if i could leave the luggage in the room until we have breakfast will get a good response?

Don't fancy lugging suitcases around for 3 hours until debarkation.

 

Thanks again.as you may guess this is my first MSC cruise.

[Captain-John]

On our recent Orchestra cruise, we chose to stay in Barcelona at the end rather than fly straight home - due to the 9AM docking time. Our flight would have been 11:45 but I didn't want to risk it. Had it been an 8AM docking time I would have thought differently.

 

Just remember surprises can happen r.e. weather, traffic etc. that means the ship might not keep to schedule. If you're prepared for this and accept the small risk, I'd say you should be fine. I didn't experience any disembarkation chaos, although Orchestra is a much smaller ship than Meraviglia. To be honest this is probably a flight I would book, with that docking time.

 

Bea - regarding self disembarkation - I was specifically told on Orchestra this was not allowed and we HAD to put our suitcases out. On NCL we always self disembark, as NCL specifically allow you to. Might be different for Meraviglia but I'd like consistency across the line in this regard as I will always, always chose to walk my own suitcase off rather than having it sit in a busy luggage hall for potentially hours and with hundreds of people walking by it.

[gennadi]

JeanieC, Aston, I'd like to know if you had any problems after all.

I have a similar situation. In November, we will be cruising with the Magnifica. It arrives in Barcelona at 9 am and our flight is at 11:45. Will we be OK?

[Beamafar]

JeanieC, Aston, I'd like to know if you had any problems after all.

I have a similar situation. In November, we will be cruising with the Magnifica. It arrives in Barcelona at 9 am and our flight is at 11:45. Will we be OK?

 

That means you should be at the airport by 9.45am - Even if you could disembark as soon as the ship arrives (which doesn't happen as the Port Authorities have to give clearance before they allow this), it still leaves only 45 minutes to get through the terminal and get to the airport. You would also have to be one of the very first people off the ship (again, if there's a queue ahead of you, you're gonna lose time there).

[RealNorwegianCruiser]

MSC is one thing - other ships is another factor as well. We did the big mistake of not prebook any transfer after a cruise ending i Barcelona, and got stuck in a LOOOOOONG taxi que. Luckily a passenger we got to know during the cruise had prebooked transfer, and invited us to share. Thanks to him we made our flight..

[gennadi]

Thank you both for replying promptly. I guess I should look into leaving later in the day.

[Bases5]

Thank you both for replying promptly. I guess I should look into leaving later in the day.

 

We bounce back and forth about flights for our Feb Med Cruise. The thing we noticed about later flights were the long layovers 14-18 hours before crossing the pond.

 

We decided to stay 1 night post cruise and fly out the next morning. We actually get back at the same time as we would if we took a afternoon flight

[phissy]

We bounce back and forth about flights for our Feb Med Cruise. The thing we noticed about later flights were the long layovers 14-18 hours before crossing the pond.

 

We decided to stay 1 night post cruise and fly out the next morning. We actually get back at the same time as we would if we took a afternoon flight

Many who do not travel a lot do not realize the long layover times at airport. I would also rather sleep at a hotel than at an airport.

We have our flight from BCN scheduled for 5:30pm. hopefully we can relax and have lunch while others are trying to run for the airport. Since our connection was in LHR, we decided to spend a week there before continuing on home . Meraviglia next spring.

[JeanieC,Aston]

JeanieC, Aston, I'd like to know if you had any problems after all.

I have a similar situation. In November, we will be cruising with the Magnifica. It arrives in Barcelona at 9 am and our flight is at 11:45. Will we be OK?

Hi gennadi.

I had no problem,,,,i wrote this after my April cruise on Meraviglia.

 

"Disembarkation,,,,,,smoothest I have ever done,,,but it can be different,,,they disembark passengers by deck,,,hence our deck (12) would have been 10:40,,,,,,but because MSC ran a shuttle to the airport for 20e each we took that offer because you disembarked at 09:15,on the coach strait to the airport,,,,,the taxi would have been 35e +tip anyhow.So we walked off with the Black Card holders."

The coach drops off at Terminal 1 first,used mainly for USA flights,,,,then carries on to Terminal 2 with the rest.

Its a strait 20 min run to the airport on the ring road,,,it doesn't touch the traffic in the city centre.

[Beamafar]

... the taxi would have been 35e +tip anyhow.So we walked off with the Black Card holders.

 

As an FYI (and for clarification purposes) ... Taxi fares are now fixed in Barcelona, both to and from the airport/port at €39 (last time we embarked in Barcelona). This came about because some drivers were ripping people off.

 

Also, Black Card holders don't get priority disembarkation, so it wouldn't have been a case of "walked off with Black Card holders". Anyone can request priority disembarkation (especially if you can show that you have an early flight) but it's only granted under certain conditions, such as the example I've given.

[perakcruiser]

If I need to catch a flight or train in the early hours I would always carry my lugguage off the boat by myself and not use the labels even if I get a priority one.

[OceansOfTravels]

I just did this on Friday. The ship docked at 8AM instead of 9AM, and I had to be out of my cabin by 8AM. By disembarkation time was set at 9:30AM by MSC. I never carry my luggage off, so I just wheeled it with me up to breakfast, waited there until 9:30AM, then wheeled it off the ship with me to disembark. It is a very smooth process and you shouldn't run into any problems.

[gennadi]

Thank you so much for sharing your experiences!

 

There aren't any flights later in the day to Athens so we have a choice of risking all going well in the morning vs flying out the next day, plus hotel.

 

Also, is it possible to buy the airport transfers onboard or must we prepurchase?

[OceansOfTravels]

Thank you so much for sharing your experiences!

 

There aren't any flights later in the day to Athens so we have a choice of risking all going well in the morning vs flying out the next day, plus hotel.

 

Also, is it possible to buy the airport transfers onboard or must we prepurchase?

 

I would just suggest an Uber if I were you, it will be a lot cheaper and will eliminate a lot of stress. Unless you'r traveling with a large group, but I think you should be fine. If needed, you could just call a larger Uber or just two.

 

I assume you could book a transfer with MSC, but we did not see a place to. We just walked outside to the taxi xing and picked one up to our Barcelona hotel. Be careful though, they are rather expensive.

[Hlitner]

Thanks Guys.

The latest check-in time for my flight is 11:50 and Gate closes at 12:00.

I have flown many times from Barcelona so know the procedure,the taxi from the port is only 20 mins.

So a taxi at 11:00 gives plenty of time.

I have never found 2 hours needed to get from check-in to gate.

 

I was reading another forum,the poster said she didn't get off the ship until 10:15,,and she was Black card.

The queues to get off wound up the stairways.It was pandemonium.

 

I was really wondering if any recent experiences shows an improvement.

Also if self-debarkation allows you off first as soon as customs are cleared,,,as it does with other lines?

 

If out of room by 07:00,,,do you think asking the steward if i could leave the luggage in the room until we have breakfast will get a good response?

Don't fancy lugging suitcases around for 3 hours until debarkation.

 

Thanks again.as you may guess this is my first MSC cruise.

 

Don't let your prior experience poison your judgment when coming off a ship. One issue at Barcelona is even getting a taxi from the port. You might find yourself in a long taxi queue which could easily use 30+ min of your precious time. 20 Minutes to the airport is also a bit optimistic as traffic can turn that into 30 min. There is not any big deal with Customs at the port and you would normally claim (or walk off) with your luggage and just walk past the Customs Officers without a hassle. In the final analysis you have to ask yourself, "what is my Plan B if I miss my flight." If its not a big deal then take your time getting to BCN. Otherwise, putting up with a little extra time at BCN is not an awful option.

 

As to being stuck at airports, we have learned the terrific benefit of lounge access. If flying Business Class this is generally included. Otherwise, get yourself an AMEX Platinum or Chase Sapphire Reserve....both of which gets you unlimited access to the Priority Pass Lounge system. It makes the longer airport waits much easier to take.

 

Hank